It is located in the Forum of Trajan, near the Quirinale, north of the Roman Forum.

The following inscription is on the pedestal, where people who are walking at ground level can read it:

SENATVS·POPVLVSQVE·ROMANVS

IMP·CAESARI·DIVI·NERVAE·F·NERVAE

TRAIANO·AVG·GERM·DACICO·PONTIF

MAXIMO·TRIB·POT·XVII·IMP·VI·COS·VI·P·P·

AD·DECLARANDVM·QVANTAE·ALTITVDINIS

MONS·ET·LOCVS·TANT<...>IBVS·SIT·EGESTVS

Translated:

"The Senate and the Roman people, the Emperor César Nerva Trajano Augusto Germánico Dácico, son of the divine Nerva, the highest pontiff, tribune for the seventeenth time, imperator for the sixth time, consul for the sixth time, father of the country, to show the height that the mountain and the place now destroyed for works like this one reached.

In other words, according to the inscription, the column is as high as the hill that previously existed in the same place.

TRAJAN'S COLUMN

CHARACTERISTICS